The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released an interim report into the death of a crew member aboard P&O Cruises’ Arvia, providing new details about the October 26, 2025, accident.
The incident occurred while the 2022-built ship was sailing from Southampton, England, to Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
At the time, Arvia was about 75 nautical miles northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain, carrying 5,299 passengers and 1,681 crew members.
What happened in the elevator?
At approximately 05:52 UTC, an electrical technician and the ship’s staff electro-technical officer were testing a passenger elevator following overnight repairs. The lift had been stopped on Deck 11 for maintenance checks.
According to the report, the technician left the lift car to access the top of the elevator from a higher deck. He first attempted to open the lift shaft doors on Deck 12, but was unable to do so because the door release key would not operate due to a defect. He then proceeded to Deck 14, where he successfully opened the lift shaft doors. There is no Deck 13 on the ship.
As the staff electro-technical officer exited the lift car on Deck 11, the lift car doors and shaft doors automatically closed. Around the same time, the technician entered the lift shaft from Deck 14, and the doors closed behind him.
Report details findings
Initial findings indicate the lift was not electrically isolated at the time of the accident. When the doors closed, the safety interlocks were re-enabled. A stored lift call signal then caused the elevator to move upward, crushing the technician between the lift car and the shaft wall .
A medical emergency was declared at 06:02, and the technician was pronounced dead at 06:07 by the ship’s doctor. The ship diverted to A Coruña, Spain, where local emergency services recovered the body.
The MAIB classified the case as a “Very Serious Marine Casualty”.
The report states: “The sole objective of a safety investigation into an accident under these Regulations shall be the prevention of future accidents… It shall not be the purpose of such an investigation, to determine liability nor… to apportion blame.”
The investigation remains ongoing. A final report will be issued following further review and a 30-day stakeholder consultation period.
In 2019, a guest was banned from Carnival Cruise Line for damaging an elevator aboard the now-defunct Carnival Inspiration.
